Improvement in raking attachments to harvesters



UNITED STATES J. A. ST. JOHN, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN.

y IMPROVEMENT `IN RAKING ATTACHMENTS TO HARVESTERS. o

Specification forming part of Letters Patent-No. 20,378, dated May 25,1555.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that LJ. A. ST. JOHN, of Janesville, in the county of Rockand State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and Improved Rakin gAttachment for Harvesters; and I do hereby declare that the following isafull, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had tothe annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a side sectional view of a harvester with my improvementapplied to it, x nr, Fig. 2, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 2 isa plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding part-s in the two.figures.

This invention consists in a novel Way of operating a double-vibratingrake, so that it will traverse over the platform of the harvester andopen and close at the desired points, as hereinafter shown, so that thecut grain will be raked from the platform and deposited in proper gavelsupon the ground.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and'construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the main frame of a harvester.

Bis the platform,having the sickle at its front end.

C is the driving-wheel,the axlect of whichis placed in the main frame.

D is a bevel-pinion, which is placed on the axle c of the wheel C. Thispinion Dgears into a corresponding pinion, E, the shaft F of which has acrank, G, on its upper end. Thev crank G has a pitman, H, attachedctoit, said pitman being connected to a slide, I, which is fitted betweenguides b b on the main frame. The slide I has an arm, J, connected toit, the outer end of said arm being attached to a crank, K, on the upperend of a shaft, L.

To the shaft L a horizontal shaft, M, is attached, and on the shaft M apinion, N, is placed loosely. This pinion N gears into a toothedstationary. segment, O, attached to' the main frame.

On the shaft M two arms, c c, are placed and permanently attached, saidarms projecting at equal distances from each side of the shaft M. (SeeFig. 2.) To the ends of these arms rake-heads E P are attached by arms dd, said arms being pivoted to the arms c c. The teeth e of the rake-headP are not 'vertical, but inclined towardV the teeth of the otherrake-head, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The two outer arms, dd, of therake-head have their inner ends rounded and toothed, as shown atf, thetwo toothed ends gearing into each other.

To the shaft, M, at a point between the pinion N and the inner arm c aplate, g, is attached, said plate being at right angles with shaft M,and having a lever, It, pivoted to it.

This lever has a pin, '5, formed at one end of it, said pin projectingfrom the lever at rlght angles, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and aspring, j, which bears against the lever h, has

a tendency to keep the pin forced into a hole made in the inner arm d ofthe rake-head P'. To the outer side of the pinion N a beveledprojection, k, is attached, and also a pin, l.

The operation is as follows As the machine is drawn along, the grain iscut by the sickle, operated from the driving-wheel C by any of the knownmeans employed for such purpose, and a reciprocating motion is given theslide I from the axle aby means of the crankG and connecting-rod H ,theslide I actuating, through the medium of the arm J and crank KM, theshaft M, and also the rake-heads P P', causing them to traverse in thearc of a circle oven-the platform B. Suppose the rake-heads P P to be atthe front of the platform B. The teeth c will at this point grasp thecut grain on the platform, the rake-heads heilig kept down by their owngravity, and as the rake-heads are moved over the platform toward itsback end the cut grain will be carried back by them. As the rake-headsmove back, the pinion N is rotated in consequence of its gearing intothe segment O, and by tlie time the rake-heads have passed off theplatform and have reached the position indicated in red the pin lstrikes the inner arm d of the rake-head P and elevates it, the otherrake-head being simulta-A neously elevated in consequence of thegearingf, and the grain consequently is allowed to fall upon the ground.When the rake-heads are fully elevated, the piu i on the lever h isforced in the arm d of rake-head P by the spring j, and the rake-headsare retained in an elevated position While movingl toward the front endof the platform, and when they have reached the front of the platformthe beveled projection k strikes the lever h, frees the pin t from thearm d of rake-head P', and the rakes I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters fall by their gravity, the teeth e grasping thegraincut while the rakes were operating as described. This gavel israked off the platform and deposited upon the ground, as before. Thus itwill be seen that the cut grain will be raked o" the platform in gavels,and the gavels kept in compact form. l

I would remark that the parts of the harvester, with the exception ofthe raking device, are of usual'construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I The particular means employedfor operating the rakes--viz., the reciprocating slide I, arm J, crankK, and shaft M, with the rakes attached, in connection with the lever h,pinion N and segment O, the whole being arranged as shown and described.

J. A. ST. JOHN.

Witnesses:

' W. T. BENNETT,

4LUCLUS FIELD.

